Leela Group set to open IT campus in Technopark

Thiruvananthapuram, May 15 (IANS) Hospitality major Leela Group will soon open a Rs.100 crore state-of-the-art IT campus in the Technopark here, a top group official said. “The building is almost ready and we will open the campus very soon,” V.J. Jayakumar, chief of Leela Group’s operations in Kerala, told IANS.

The 15-storey building will have 500,000 square feet built-up space and an additional 100,000 square feet for car parking.

“Already we have finalised talks with two IT companies, which will take space here. The total investment for the project is above Rs.100 crore,” said Jayakumar, who was also the former chief executive of the Technopark.

Leela, which has top-end resorts in several cities in the country, has stepped into the business of IT infrastructure as part of its diversification strategy.

“In Mumbai and Bangalore we have been in the business of IT infrastructure. In Kerala, we have planned to invest Rs.260 crore in the sector and the first and second phases of our project at the Infopark campus in Kochi are complete,” said Jayakumar.

“We have finished 90 percent work of the third phase and the next phase work has already started. In all, there will be more than 1 million square feet space in Kochi,” he added.

The IT infrastructure division of the Leela Group comes under the Leela Lace Holdings and two of its subsidiaries - Leela Soft and Ocean Soft - manage the Infopark and the Technopark units.

Currently, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram are the leading IT hubs in Kerala.

Around 50 companies that employ more than 10,000 people operate in and around the Infopark campus in Kochi, while 160 companies with a total employee strength of 25,000 work in the Technopark.

As part of the state government’s IT policy, IT parks will be set up in all 14 districts of Kerala.

Works have already begun for the district IT parks at Kollam, Trissur and Alappuzha.

According to the latest figures provided by the state-run Software Technology Parks India (STPI), software exports from Kerala has grown 43.41 percent to Rs.2,300 crore till February-end of last fiscal.

In 2007-08, the total software exports from Kerala stood at Rs.1,750 crore.